George Monbiot’s Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning could be an upsetting book because it tells what appear to be uncomfortable truths about the way we live. More upsetting for Canadians may be the exercise in publishing colonialism that passes for the book’s Canadian edition.
Heat is about why we need to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 90 percent, and how we might do it. The original book, published in the United Kingdom in September, has just one mention of Canada, and it was incorrect. The Canadian edition, published in October, is the UK version dressed up with a new foreword, endorsements from several Canadian environmental notables (which they may want to reconsider) and one of Edward Burtynsky’s stunning photos on the cover.
The Canadian foreword is a lecture from the mother country, full of the ignorance that used to make Canadians squirm. Monbiot asks, “Do so many of you [Canadians] really need air conditioning at...
Mark Jaccard is a professor at Simon Fraser University and convening lead author for sustainable energy policy with the Global Energy Assessment. He has also served on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Canada’s National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy, and the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development.
Richard Gilbert is a Toronto-based transport and energy consultant.
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